About

The current ISOFAR Board was elected in November 8th, 2017 at the ISOFAR general assembly in Ghaziabad, India.

The Board consists of twelve members plus one co-opted member for a new Section on Food Quality. The Executive Board has three members, plus the General Secretary:

Executive board

President

Prof. Dr. Gerold Rahmann

Vicepresident

Prof. Dr. M. Reza Ardakani

Treasurer

Dr. Anne-Kristin Løes

Board members (Alphabetical)

Prof. Dr. M. Reza Ardakani

Dr. Khalid Azim

Dr. Stefano Canali

Dr. Mahesh Chander

Dr. Anne-Kristin Løes

Prof. Dr. Daniel Neuhoff

Dr. Jaakko Nuutila

Prof. Dr. Victor I.O. Olowe

Prof. Dr. Gerold Rahmann

Prof. Dr. Ewa Rembiałkowska

Prof. Dr. Khaled Sassi

Dr. Jessica Shade

Prof. Dr. Raffaele Zanoli

Prof. Dr. M. Reza Ardakani (Vice president)

Azad University, Karaj, Iran

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Prof. M. Reza Ardakani is a Full Professor of Agroecology and Organic Farming in the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Azad University, Karaj, Iran. In 2007, Reza joined to the Department of Organic Farming, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Austria where he worked as a Post Doctoral Fellow. Upon moving to Canada in 2012, he worked as a Research Fellow at the Department of Plant Agriculture, University of Guelph and later on as a Research Associate/ Adjunct Professor at the Department of Environmental and Resource Studies, Trent University. Reza’s area of research interest are Cropping Systems and Plant Nutrition in Sustainable Agroecosystems, and is well experienced in standards and regulations of organic products in different continents such as Europe, Asia and North America. He actively contributes to different working groups of International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) such as Advisory Group on IFOAM Strategy, Working Group on Closing Cycle in Organic Agriculture, Action Group on GMOs, IFOAM Organic Food System Program and Technology Innovation Platform of IFOAM. He is currently the Director of IFOAM-IRAN; Deputy of Research and Technology at Central Research Institute, Azad University; Associate Editor & Advisory Board Member of a Springer Journal “Organic Agriculture”. He has one registered patent, nine published books and several publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Khalid Azim

INRA (National Institute of Agronomy Research), Agadir, MoroccoE-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Dr. Khalid Azim, is a specialist in horticulture graduated in Mediterranean Organic Agriculture from the CIHEAM-Bari (Italy) and IAV-Hassan II-Rabat (Morocco). Since 2007 he has been a researcher in "Organic Horticulture and Composting optimization" at the National Institute of Agronomic Research (INRA), Morocco. Recently, he was nominated as national coordinator of organic research program at INRA. He is mostly oriented toward research and capacity building actions. Proudly being close to farmer needs in much Research to Action projects, has discovered the rude task of a farmer in the arid regions in Morocco. Khalid started farming organic vegetables in 2015 with his likeminded colleagues to be able to consume organic and to spread organic food among families in his city, and believes that “Research for Action and Culture Innovation” are key factors for stakeholders to benefit from scientific knowledge acquired by researchers and practitioners. Beside his interests, Khalid is Member of National Board of FIMABIO (Moroccan Federation of Organic Movement); Member of Executive Board of ANAPROBIO (Moroccan Association of Organic Farmers); Vice President of MOAFCA (Association of consultants and experts in Organic Agriculture in Morocco); Member of CNPBio (National Multidisciplinary Commission of Organic Agriculture = revision and validation of Moroccan organic regulation and approvals for certification bodies) and Consultant for national and international donors in various rural development projects in his specialty (World Bank, IDRC-Canada, Migration & Development Association).

Dr. Stefano Canali

Research Council for Agricultural research and Economics, Rome, Italy

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Dr. Stefano Canali is senior scientist at the Consiglio per la Ricerca e la sperimentazione in Agricoltura (CRA), Italy. He has been involved in OFF research since the first ’90 and his activities have been carried out in the framework of a number of research projects funded by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, the Italian Ministry of Research and the European Union (V, VI and VII FP). He is the scientific coordinator of the Inter Veg “Enhancing multifunctional benefits of cover crops – vegetables intercropping” (Core Organic II) and Soil Veg “Improving soil conservation and resource use in organic cropping systems for vegetable production through introduction and management of Agro-ecological Service Crops (ASC)” (Core Organic Plus) research projects. He is involved in the H2020 Diver IMPACTS project as deputy WP leader. He also participates as expert in different working groups and initiatives aimed at providing technical advice and scientific support to the European and Italian Institutions devoted to strengthen the administrative and institutional capacity of the organic food and farming sector. He is President of the Italian Research Network for Organic Food and Farming Research (RIRAB) and member of the Scientific Board of the Italian Technological Platform for organic food and farming (PTBioIT).

Dr. Mahesh Chander

Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, India

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Dr. Mahesh Chander, PhD (Agricultural Extension Education), is Principal Scientist with Indian Council of Agricultural Research, currently serving as Head, Division of Extension Education at Indian Veterinary Research Institute. He did a certificate course on Organic Leadership from IFOAM Academy, Germany. He has been actively associated with Research & Development activities concerning organic agriculture since early 1990s. He has been associated with IFOAM, Germany and Sustainable Agriculture Network of Rainforest Alliance as member of the International Standards Committee. He has published and presented papers on organic farming in national and international conferences including writing books and manuals on organic agriculture. Out of the 30 Masters and Doctoral students guided by him, 3 students completed theses on organic livestock farming topics. He has been a Board Member of ISOFAR since 2014. He organized the National workshop on Organic Animal Husbandry Standards at Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar in 2002, and also organized ICAR sponsored short course on Organic animal husbandry standards: concepts, standards and practices in 2006. He was one of the Program Committee members, when 1st & 2nd IFOAM International Conferences on organic animal husbandry were organized in 2006 & 2012, respectively. He received Bharat Ratna Dr C Subramaniam Award for Outstanding Teachers-2010 from ICAR and ISEE Young Scientist award from Indian Society of Extension Education in 2005. More recently, he was the organizing Committee member of the IFOAM Pre-conference on Organic Animal Husbandry held in India during 19th Organic World Congress. He has been serving several governmental India bodies concerned with organic agriculture including course curriculum development for organic Agriculture.

Dr. Anne-Kristin Løes (treasurer)

Norwegian Centre for Organic Agriculture

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Anne-Kristin Løes (born 1961) grew up on a traditional Norwegian farm, graduated in soil science (MSc) in 1986 and completed a Dr. Scientiarum degree in plant nutrition and soil fertility in 2003, both at the Agricultural University of Norway (now NMBU) and employed by the Norwegian Centre for Organic Agriculture (NORSØK) in Tingvoll, Norway. She has been working with organic farming systems since 1988 focussing on nutrient supply and uptake, manuring and soil fertility. Anne-Kristin Løes has worked with long-term farm level case studies and research administration. She has lead research projects about farmers’ motivation for organic farming, and innovative ways to increase the consumption of organic food in public serving outlets for youth (iPOPY). She has participated in CORE Organic projects iPOPY, Improve-P and COBRA, and was for several years the national editor of Organic E-prints. She is associate editor of the Organic Agriculture journal, and has been actively involved in arranging several international scientific conferences.

Prof. Dr. Daniel Neuhoff

Inst. of Crop Science and Resource Conservation, Dep. of Agroecology and Organic Farming, University of Bonn

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Dr. Daniel Neuhoff is lecturer and researcher at the Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation, Dpt. Agroecology and Organic Farming (AOL), at Bonn University, Germany. He studied Agricultural Sciences in Bonn, Germany and Toulouse, France. Research interest are focused on nutrient management and crop protection in Organic Farming. He has coordinated or participated in international consortia (e.g.: Strategies of weed control in Organic Farming, see: www.wecof.uni-bonn.de, and Quality Low Input Food, see http://www.qlif.org/). Since 2013 AOL is involved in a transdisciplinary project on food security in East Africa, focusing on rice and vegetable production (https://www.wetlands-africa.de). Currently AOL is also involved in a demonstration project on intercropping in the Arsi region in Ethiopia. Daniel Neuhoff is Associate Editor of the Journals ‘Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems’ and ‘Organic Agriculture’. Since 2005 he is member of the Advisory Board for Sustainable Agriculture of the Federal office for consumer protection and food safety (BVL). Dr. Neuhoff has several publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Jaakko Nuutila

Natural Resources Institute Finland

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Dr. Jaakko Nuutila is an experienced specialist in food systems, supply and value chains, with an emphasis on sustainable and organic approaches. Dr. Nuutila holds an MSc in Food Economics from the University of Helsinki, where he also gained his doctorate. Additionally, he has a diploma in pedagogy, making knowledge transfer easy for him. His theoretical knowledge gained as an academic researcher is complemented with vast practical experience from various countries. Dr. Nuutila has extensive expertise on the hospitality industry from Master Chef to Hotel Director. He has published several scientific articles on food system sustainability and gained his doctorate with his research on organic food value chains. During his Customer Manager work, he specialized into aquaculture solutions. He has also an educational background as a program director and teacher from Haaga Institute Polytechnic in Helsinki and has gained an insight into the development countries through his consultancy work for the Finnish Church Aid in Namibia and ongoing project in Vietnam.

Prof. Dr. Victor Olowe

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Prof.Victor Olowe became a full Research Professor (Agronomy & Organic Agriculture) in October, 2008 and has actively participated as an agronomist in several international research projects such as soybean production and utilization project funded by IDRC & IITA (1992-1993), soybean production and utilization mapping funded by a DFID affiliate organization (February/March 2007), Work, Earn, Learn Project (WELP) on capacity building of young agricultural graduates in organic agriculture in collaboration with Coventry University, UK and funded by Department for Innovations, Universities and Skills (DIUS), UK/British Council (2008-2009) and a collaborative project involving six Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the West African sub-region funded by the European Union (EU) (2010 -2012). Victor is actively involved in the ongoing Ecological Organic Agriculture Initiative Project (EOAI) being led by the African Union Commission (AUC) till 2025. He is currently the President of the national movement of organic agriculture in Nigeria called Association of Organic Agriculture Practitioners of Nigeria (NOAN).

Prof. Dr. Gerold Rahmann (President)

Thuenen‐Institute of Organic Farming

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Prof. Gerold Rahmann is funding director (established in the year 2000) of the Institute of Organic Farming at the Johann Heinrich von Thuenen-Institute (vTI: www.vti.bund.de). The vTI is part of the research infrastructure of the German ministry of consumer protection, agriculture and nutrition (BMELV) and has the main subject to design sustainable resource use strategies in rural areas, forestry and fisheries to advise the ministry at an excellent scientific level. Prof. Rahmann is a socio-economist and specialized on New Farming Systems Research and Development (NFSR+D) and has worked many years in interdisciplinary teams in tropic and sub-tropic countries as well as in German and EC projects related to low input farming systems. His recent research group with 30 scientists focuses on the development of (a) organic animal husbandry, (b) organic crop production and (c) organic grassland management. He has 38 peer-reviewed scientific, >250 other papers, and 15 books published. The design of policy decision frameworks is an important part of his work. He is also world board member of International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM).

Prof. Dr. Ewa Rembiałkowska

Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Department of Functional and Organic Food and Commodities

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Professor Ewa Rembiałkowska works in a Department of Functional and Organic Food and Commodities at the Faculty of Human Nutrition and Consumer Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Poland. Received a professorship in food technology (specialty: ecology of nutrition) in the year 2012. Deals professionally with organic farming and organic food for many years, conducting research studies, teaching students, farmers and consumers in these topics. Prof. Rembiałkowska has published 295 peer-reviewed book chapters and papers, in that 25 papers in the journals with Impact Factor cited in the Journal Citation Report. The main scientific area is the quality and safety of the organic food and its impact on human and animal health. She took part in several EU projects connected with organic food & farming, e.g. in the 6th Framework project Quality Low Input Food. She has been leading 2 Leonardo da Vinci Partnership projects looking for the best practice models of the communication between science and practice in the organic sector and 2 Erasmus Plus Strategic Partnerships Projects: ‘Innovative Education towards the Needs of the Organic Sector’ (EPOS) and Innovative Education towards Sustainable Food Systems (SUSPLUS). She is a Vice-chair of the research international Association Food Quality and Health (FQH), a Chairwoman of the European Network of the Organic Agriculture Teachers (ENOAT) and a President of the Polish Association Forum of Organic Agriculture named M. Górny since 2009. The Forum brings together 80 Polish researchers and practitioners involved in organic farming.

Prof. Dr. Khaled Sassi

National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia

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Dr. Khaled Sassi is a lecturer and researcher at the National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia (INAT). Currently, he is Head of Agronomy and Crop Biotechnology Department, INAT. He obtained his PhD in Organic Agriculture from Carthage University (Tunisia). He has received Leadership Certificates from two Institutions. The first was from the University of California, Berkeley (USA) in 2014 on "Sustainable Environmental Management" and the second from the IFOAM Academy (Germany) in 2015 on "Organic Agriculture" (Organic Leadership Course). In 2017, he was selected to participate in the IFOAM Organic Leadership Course Master Class in South Korea. He has been a Member of ISOFAR since 2006. Khaled has broad range of interests in environmental management, organic agriculture and conservation agriculture. In his institution, he is responsible for teaching future agronomic engineers and master students. He has been involved with many research and development projects as a coordinator, such as the project on improving the productivity of organic durum wheat via farming methods.

Dr. Jessica Shade is the Director of Science Programs at The Organic Center where she leads agricultural research and communication programs. During her tenure at The Organic Center Dr. Shade has collaborated on a number of diverse research programs ranging from applied solutions to on-farm challenges to methods for improving environmental impacts of agriculture. Some of her most recent collaborations include projects aimed at finding organic solutions for citrus greening, analyzing pathogens in animal-based soil amendments, investigating agricultural contributions to reactive nitrogen in the environment, measuring on-farm sequestered carbon, and building a biodiversity calculator to allow growers to manage biodiversity for maximum ecosystem services. Dr. Shade also leads the Center’s signature conference event, Organic Confluences, which brings together policy makers, researchers, farmers, industry members, and other non-profits to address and overcome challenges faced by the organic sector. Dr. Shade has been honored for her environmental accomplishments by the Audubon Women in Conservation through their Women Greening Food Special Recognition, the Ecological Society of America Student Section and Union of Concerned Scientists through their Ecoservice Award, and is a Switzer Environmental Fellow. She received her PhD from the University of California, Berkeley.

Prof. Dr. Raffaele Zanoli

Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy

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Prof. Raffaele Zanoli (MA, PhD) is Full Professor of Agricultural Economics & Marketing at the Polytechnic University of Marche, Italy with more than 20 years experience primarily related to the economics and market analyses of the organic food sector. He participated to a dozen of international projects on organic farming, mostly EU-funded, and was the coordinator of the largest governmental-funded project on organic animal farming in Italy (www.equizoobio.it). He is currently the coordinator of the 7th FP project “Organic Data Network”, started on January 2012. He has been expert and consultant on organic farming for the European Commission, the Swiss Federal Government, the Italian Government, and the FAO. He is founder and currently president of the Italian Research Association on Organic Farming (GRAB-IT) and Coordinator for socio-economic research in the RIRAB, the Italian Network for Organic Farming Research.